Apple acquires second screen TV specialist Matcha.tv

Apple has acquired Matcha.tv, an iOS developer known for its “second screen” app that serves as a companion as users watch TV or streaming videos online. The news was first reported by VentureBeat and subsequently confirmed. The company’s app provided various guide features and information about TV content and content available to stream from sites like Netflix and Hulu, and it also offered personalized recommendations. Matcha.tv’s application had recently been pulled from the App Store as the company worked on taking things in a new direction, and now we know why. According to VentureBeat, Apple only spent between $1 million and $1.5 million on its Matcha.tv buy, though the site hedged by noting that it could have been much more.